The Shinwoo Zen 6
Introduction:
It was July 2011, and I was bored out of my mind. I had been doing nothing that whole summer, and being lazy got boring. Searching through my drawer for an object to entertain me, I discovered and auto return yoyo that I won at an arcade. And so, a love for yo-yoing established itself in my heart, and I immediately ordered what looked to me like the best yoyo ever: the Shinwoo Zen 6. With a new skill level and a collection of some very high quality throws, will the Zen 6 remain in my favorites, or will the love for it fade away like the taste of gum does after a good amount of chewing.
Construction:
The Shinwoo Zen 6 is shipped in a large box similar to Yoyofactory’s, except it is about three times as big……and has everything written in Korean. I really like the packaging of this yoyo. It is quite huge, making it to be unique from other boxes, and displaces the yoyo in the middle, but in a plastic encasing. The shape, is what I am sure, catches everyone’s eye. It isn’t too weird. The Zen 6 actually resembles the Phenom, just with many angles and cuts. After a bind, it may hurt your hand depending on how tough you are.
Weight:
As for the weight, I think that the specs over exaggerate it. It plays more like it is 66 grams rather than 68 grams, but that may just be me. The shape pushes the weight to the edges, but allows it to have center weight, causing it to be very stable.
Response and Bearing:
The Shinwoo Zen 6 is apparently the first to feature their new flat silicone response, and I absolutely love it. It gives snappy binds, even in low spin conditions. It will handle just about any bind you have up your sleeve. AS for the bearing, I replaced it with a One Drop 10 ball bearing, and it spin forever, but that probably has nothing to do with the bearing.
Play:
Now, what you have all been waiting for, how it plays. The best way to describe it would be in one word: “Amazing”. It is fast, and can handle anything you throw at it excluding grinds. The anodization definitely looks good, but it makes for a very poor grinding surface. Plus, the IRG is ultra hard to get your thumb under. With that aside, this thing can play FAST. Also, it handles horizontals flawlessly. Because it isn’t ultra stable, it will spin sideways with ease and it moves where you want it.
Conclusion:
For $44.99, you cannot go wrong with this. After playing with this yoyo I have realized that Shinwoo makes yoyos that can be modded. The silicone groove looks deep enough to accept flowable, but why would you need to when you have perfect pads like those! In my opinion, I think someone should strip the ano, have it sandblasted and then re-anoed. Now that, would be awesome.
